Weeping tears of wax

The image of an inanimate object crying (or bleeding) is familiar in religious contexts. For instance, there are plenty of tales of statues of the Virgin Mary weeping, sometimes with tears of chrism or blood. This typically evokes feelings of reverence and awe. However, there is a larger genre of inanimate objects acting in human ways that can evoke some other emotions as well. There is the whimsical, exemplified by Pixar movies such as Toy Story and Cars. And then there is the terrifying, as we can see in movies like Child’s Play and Christine. This skull crying tears of wax is amusing, and also in a way unsettling. Maybe it’s because we secretly wish, and secretly fear, that inanimate objects are actually alive.

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Published by eileenmaksym

Eileen Maksym studied philosophy at Yale and theology at Boston College, and now uses both to write science fiction. Currently she is an academic nomad, following her astrophysicist husband around the world, two kids in tow. When not writing or kid wrangling, Eileen is a hopeless fangirl. She can be found on Twitter (@eileenmaksym) squeeing over her favorite shows, most of which involve famous detectives, dashing time travelers, and creatures that are never, ever referred to as zombies.
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